Penultimate Delta Blues trial begins

Jury selection began Monday in the trial of Demetrius Colbert, who is accused of trafficking drugs for years in Helena-West Helena and Marianna.

Colbert, 36, of Marianna is accused of being one of four major drug traffickers in Lee and Phillips counties. The trial is expected to last two or three weeks and will be one of the last cases related to Operation Delta Blues, a drug-trafficking investigation that focused on the Arkansas Delta region. Federal prosecutors say that Colbert, nicknamed "D-Coop," regularly distributed hundreds of pounds of cocaine to dealers in Phillips and Lee counties.

Colbert is being represented by Little Rock Attorney Mark Hampton and is facing six felony charges including conspiracy to posses more than 5 kilograms of cocaine with intent to deliver and assault of a federal officer with a deadly weapon.

This case has been pending since October 2011, when officers first arrested Colbert and his wife after connecting them to the drug-trafficking operation.